{"id":56,"date":"2024-08-23T00:09:47","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T00:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gendertherapy.co.nz\/?p=56"},"modified":"2024-08-23T07:08:46","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T07:08:46","slug":"david-bell-is-wrong-and-he-knows-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gendertherapy.co.nz\/?p=56","title":{"rendered":"David Bell is wrong and he knows it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Or: Why we need to stop platforming disingenuous anti-trans speakers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to write this essay as a primer for anyone who might up until now have only been witnessing the debate about trans rights from the outside. I want to make the case that anti-trans activists and speakers are not<\/em> acting in good faith and that we should stop uncritically accepting their claims that they are simply in favour of \u2018discussion and thoughtfulness<\/a>\u2019 which I intend to show is absolutely not the case.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a reflective indidivual, I am genuinely interested in understanding the nuance of issues and am open to constructive discussion even about topics that affect me personally.\u00a0 In fact, especially<\/em> about topics that affect me personally. As a trans person, and a parent I am deeply<\/em> invested in wanting to understand the evidence and what best practice suggests is most beneficial for myself and my child for the obvious reason that I want the best possible outcome for myself and those I love.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, gender critical advocates have shown a repeated disinterest in engaging with any actual evidence, with the trans community, or in any good faith discussion and at this point I believe it is actively dangerous<\/em> to continue to allow these perspectives to be shared without challenge within professional spaces as I have seen occurring recently within psychotherapy organisations in Aotearoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why is that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m going to address some of the most common gender-critical talking points, drawing on a seminar that David Bell delivered to the Scottish Parliament<\/a>, in order to demonstrate clearly the ways in which gender-critical arguments are constructed and provide evidence that they show a willful disregard for actual evidence and are, contrary to their claims, designed to shut down actual exploration and curiosity in favour of presupposed outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right from the outset in his seminar, in the first couple of paragraphs in fact, David Bell makes the claim that there is a \u2018whirlwind of change\u2019 that has \u2018come about in a very reactive non-reflectice way\u2019 (I’m petty enough to leave in the spelling mistakes).  This is one of the most common messages that gender-critical people use to discredit trans people\u2019s perspectives so I want to tackle it first.  The clear implication Bell wants to make here is that social change relating to trans people (such as broader social acceptance, greater access to healthcare) is not based on careful thought or evidence.  He makes this even clearer later in his seminar by stating that  \u2018thought and enquiry are drowned out by the highly politicised agendas\u2019 and that \u2018Many of these children are thus easy targets for highly politicised cults\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These arguments are a clear appeal to emotion.  After all, no-one wants children to be manipulated by \u2018cults\u2019. This emotive language is obviously <\/em>not designed to elicit the peaceful \u2018thought and enquiry\u2019 that he claims to want but rather to cast his opponents as dangerous ideologues that \u2018fiercely reject any challenge to their orthodoxy\u2019 and who show \u2018aggressive intolerance towards those who question it\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let\u2019s get rid of this ridiculous claim first.  Has this change come about in a reactive and non-reflective way?  Well, no.  People have been scientifically curious about trans people for well over a century.  Admittedly we lost a great deal of the knowledge that had been gained regarding gender non-conforming people when the Nazis destroyed one of the world\u2019s first modern institutes for sexual research in Berlin<\/a>, but research has continued on from then and we have a very very comprehensive body of research into many<\/em> issues relating to trans experiences including the risks and benefits of various forms of treatment, the connections between trans identity and other mental health issues, puberty blockers, hormone treatments, the frequency of de-transition and so on<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have study after study after study after study (see the link above) all more or less confirming the same thing \u2013 that people experiencing gender dysphoria who are supported to explore their gender identity <\/em>and supported to transition when that is their wish<\/em> have better mental health outcomes, reduced suicide risk, increased sexual and relationship satisfaction, and greater quality of life.\u00a0 There is a significant body of evidence to this effect, and to dismiss it all as being \u2018reactive\u2019 and \u2018non-reflective\u2019 \u2013 not to mention calling advocates a \u2018cult\u2019 \u2013 shows not ignorance, but an intentional disregard for evidence.\u00a0 <\/em>It is not reasonable to think that someone genuinely just wants to engage in \u2018thoughtful debate\u2019 when they show a deliberate disingenuity in their arguments and use deliberately inflammatory language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A connected and common gender-critical argument is that kids are being pressured, persuaded or manipulated into identifying as trans or transitioning in response to unrelated mental health issues or life stressors.  David Bell makes this point (repeatedly) in his seminar, including stating \u2018there is usually a tremendous pressure to close down any discussion that might involve understanding how this has situation has come about and rapid unquestioning acceptance of the child\u2019s view , a demand (often supported by the family) for \u2018closure\u2019.\u2019 Or in a Times article where he stated that clinicians at the Tavistock\u2019s \u2018only acceptable explanation\u2019 for children who are \u2018unwilling or unable to conform to gender stereotypes\u2019 is that they are transgender, going as far as to suggest that girls who did not like playing with dolls were classified as transgender on that basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an outrageous claim, and yet he presents it without any evidence whatsoever \u2013 again with the clear intent of painting his opponents as radical, unhinged and reckless.\u00a0 Not only has no gender-critical speaker ever provided any solid evidence of this idea that kids are being \u2018pressured\u2019 to be transgender, the examples they do<\/em> provide often demonstrate the opposite.\u00a0 As the podcast Maintenance Phase<\/a> discovered when they actually investigate the cases Bell and colleagues bring forward as evidence of kids being \u2018rushed\u2019 onto medical treatments, in reality the case examples that they themselves provide<\/em> received multiple therapy sessions over multiple years before any kind of treatment was initiated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly though, this claim that gender non-conforming kids were assumed to be trans goes against everything that trans people actually believe \u2013 which he would know if he spent any time at all actually talking to us.\u00a0 As biologist Julia Serano describes in her excellent book \u2018Whipping Girl\u2019, gender expression \u2013 <\/em>how we choose to dress, what interests we have, our mannerism and way of being in the world – is not<\/em> the same as gender identity, our internal sense of who we are as a gendered (or ungendered) being.\u00a0 If you spend time on any of the publicly visible trans spaces online you will see this being addressed over and over again when people are struggling to work out whether they are transgender. In these cases, sometimes a person trying to work out their gender identity suggests that maybe they are transgender because of their interest in cross-gender dress or activities. Almost without exception, they will receive the response that aesthetics and interests are not a meaningful indicator of gender identity.\u00a0<\/em> Because this is what most trans people actually believe. Not that David Bell would know that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the reasons trans people understand this almost instinctively is that most of us tried <\/em>being non-conforming members of our \u2018assigned\u2019 sex before transitioning.<\/em>\u00a0 And most of us have been confronted with a question along the lines of \u2018couldn\u2019t you just be a feminine man\/masculine woman?\u2019\u00a0 Believe us, we tried.\u00a0 The reason trans people transition is explicitly because gender expression is not<\/em> the same as gender identity, and most of us transition not to look<\/em> like the other gender, but to feel physically correct within ourselves<\/em>.\u00a0 You also don\u2019t have to dig very far to find whole communities of butch trans women and feminine trans men which highlights very clearly that these are two separate issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second aspect of trans experience that makes clear the absurdity of his argument is that the vast majority of trans people (not all, we\u2019re not a monolith) are actively opposed to the idea of trying to convince another person that they are trans.<\/em>  In fact, it\u2019s such a widely held viewpoint that there\u2019s a phrase to describe it, the \u2018egg prime directive<\/a>\u2019.   Forgive the slightly cringe language, a lot of us were nerds growing up okay?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ‘egg prime directive’ is the \u2018unspoken agreement not to tell people who are questioning their gender whether or not they are trans\u2019.  The usual rationale given for this is twofold:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, trans people have had the experience our whole lives of being told by others who we are, how to think about ourselves, and what our gender means and it has caused us enormous amounts of suffering.  The very last<\/em> thing a trans person wants to do is inflict that on anyone else.  Overwhelmingly, trans people encourage and support any person, trans or cis, to openly explore their gender and find what feels right for them<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, as the link above points out, trying to pressure someone to be trans \u2013 even if they are trans and haven\u2019t worked it out yet \u2013 <\/em>simply does not work.\u00a0 People do not want<\/em> to believe that they are trans for hopefully obvious reasons (if it\u2019s not obvious, consider the vast social, financial and practical costs of transitioning) and trying to tell someone that they are usually just makes them more resistant to the idea. Most trans people will try just about every other possible explanation and solution to their gender dysphoria before transitioning, because for most of us it’s the least<\/em> appealing option, not the most. It’s just that (again, check the science) it’s the only one that works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the idea that trans people are a \u2018cult\u2019 trying to force others into unquestioningly transitioning flies in the face of everything that trans people actually say and do and more importantly, wouldn\u2019t work even if that was what was happening.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m aware that that\u2019s all anecdotal however, so I come back to my general rebuttal to most gender critical arguments which is: if this is so widespread and happening so regularly, it should be easy to provide evidence.  So why aren\u2019t you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A final connected argument that gender-critical people make is that young people (particularly young women) are becoming convinced they are trans due to social media, peer pressure, and that they have \u2018very often been carefully trained on line, by peers and even by parents, to produce a plausible narrative\u2019.  This is often supported by \u2018evidence\u2019 relating to a concept called \u2018Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria\u2019 (ROGD).  As David Bell says, \u2018This explosion in numbers , the sudden increase in natal girls, the appearance of ROGD all indicate a cultural phenomenon of enormous importance that we do not understand\u2019.  The problem here is that this \u2018phenomenon\u2019 of \u2018enormous importance\u2019 has been thoroughly debunked<\/a>.  Not just debunked, but stupid from the outset.  The Maintenance Phase podcast <\/a>describes how the \u2018research\u2019 that led to the creation of the term \u2018ROGD\u2019 was conducted by talking to the parents<\/em> of young people who identified as trans who were selected for the research on the basis that they had anxieties or concerns about their kids\u2019 gender identity<\/em>.  No trans youth were involved in the research, and the parents were recruited from online forums that had already expressed clear anti-trans sentiments.  That\u2019s like conducting \u2018research\u2019 into female \u2018hysteria\u2019 by interviewing only male physicians.  Oh wait, that happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s the thing.  David Bell knows<\/em> this.  It\u2019s extremely clear if you read the studies exactly how they were conducted.  And here\u2019s the other thing \u2013 he doesn\u2019t care.  Despite his claims, he is not trying to engage in rational, scientific debate.  Because the science doesn\u2019t, not for a moment, come close to supporting his views.  So instead he needs to use inflammatory rhetoric (\u2018cults\u2019, \u2018irreversible damage\u2019, \u2018political agenda\u2019 \u2018so called liberal agenda\u2019 \u2013 all direct quotes) and unsupported claims designed to resonate with parents\u2019 justified desires to protect their children (\u2018potentially devastating physical effects\u2019 or the suggestion that kids are being encouraged to transition because they \u2018don\u2019t like playing with dolls\u2019).  Of course<\/em> this kind of framing creates a response, and a heated one.  Of course<\/em> we feel like we shouldn\u2019t shut down debate if it seems like someone is just \u2018looking out for the children\u2019.  The problem of course is that none of it is true, or even approaching true, and that when we allow the conversation to continue it leads to restrictions to care and increased prejudice directed towards trans people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s clear that this is his intent if we analyse the way in which he uses language.  He states \u2018It is vital to distinguish between Gender Dysphoria and Transgender as these are easily conflated , itself a cause of serious damage. Gender Dysphoria might arise from many sources and in mild forms is certainly not uncommon in adolescents (the relation between milder forms and severe forms of gender dysphoria is very under researched). Transgender refers to the situation when a decision has been made that the way to manage the gender dysphoria is through the child being set on a course to change her gender identity.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look closely at how he defines transgender here, and contrast that with the definition from the Oxford English dictionary that I believe many trans people would broadly agree with: \u2018denoting or relating to a person whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex registered for them at birth.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a somewhat subtle but really important thing to understand, because by framing being transgender as a \u2018situation\u2019 where a \u2018decision is made\u2019, he calls into question the validity of trans identity via terminology.\u00a0 Because a \u2018situation\u2019 can be resolved in a number of ways, and \u2018a decision has been made that the way to manage the gender dysphoria is..\u2019 suggests that this \u2018decision\u2019 is questionable at best.\u00a0 By contrast, the Oxford dictionary definition makes clear that this is a value-neutral description of an internal<\/em> experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By replacing \u2018transgender\u2019 with other identities or natural human variance, the intent of this framing hopefully becomes clearer.  For instance, \u2018Homosexuality refers to the situation when a decision has been made that the way to manage lack of attraction to the opposite sex is through sexual activity with the same sex\u2019.  Or perhaps \u2018Cisgender refers to the situation when a decision has been made to eliminate any exploration of sex or gender variance in favour of dogmatically identifying with ones sex assigned at birth\u2019.  Or maybe \u2018Left-handedness refers to the situation when a decision has been made that the way to manage a deficit in dextrousness with the right hand is through the child being set on a course to change their handedness\u2019.  I could go on, but you get the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The important thing to understand here is that again, David Bell will know<\/em> what the actual definition of the term is, but engaging with its correct meaning makes it harder for him to make his arguments.  Again revealing that he is not<\/em> interested in genuine, constructive debate but rather pushing a perspective regardless of the evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to challenge a few other points Bell makes that are readily and easily disproved by evidence to again support my claim that he is not interested in genuine discussion.  He states \u2018We need to bear in mind that a substantial percentage of these children, if left without intervention will desist and emerge as gay and lesbian (there is evidence to support this)\u2019.  It’s nice to just be able to claim that there is evidence without actually providing any of it. But understandable, given that most of the evidence is to the contrary<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, his claims about the use of GnRH analogues (more commonly called \u2018puberty blockers\u2019) are alarmist and significantly overstate the risks while understating benefits.\u00a0 The science here is pretty clear, though still emerging \u2013 GnRH analogues have low (but not non-existent) risks, and very significant benefits<\/a>.\u00a0 Rates of regret for the use of these, hormone treatments and even surgery are consistently found to be very very low, meaning that even given the potential costs involved the benefits significantly outweigh them<\/em> in the eyes of the people receiving treatment (details of regret rates in the link above).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And again, the way he describes the impacts of hormone or surgical treatment make clear that he is not interested in debating the merits of these treatments in an objective way but rather creating an alarmed reaction in the reader: \u201cWhen the child is set on this course we know they will be infertile, suffer irreversible changes in the sexual body, be anorgasmic, have a lifetime of being a patient taking hormones, suffer vaginal atrophy, suffer the daily routines of tending for the parts of the body that have been surgically modified.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address these points one by one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Infertile\u2019  This is<\/em> a potential risk of hormone treatment, but not<\/em> puberty blockers<\/a>.  However the data does not suggest that we \u2018know\u2019 they will become infertile – it\u2019s a risk, but not a guaranteed one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Suffer irreversible changes in the sexual body\u2019.  Puberty<\/em> causes irreversible changes in the sexual body.  The only distinction here is which<\/em> puberty a person chooses to go through, and in framing it this way the clear implication is that one is preferable to the other.  Which indicates a clear belief (which he has articulated elsewhere) that trans identities are simply not valid.  And this is a dangerous position to be allowed to be shared, because if somebody doesn\u2019t believe in the validity of my existence<\/em>, what steps might they take to ensure that I do not exist as I am?  It\u2019s not hard to see how this has played out throughout history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Be anorgasmic\u2019.  Absolute, easily<\/a> disprovable<\/a> bullshit<\/a>.  Or you could just spend a few minutes in any online trans space to see that this is crap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Have a lifetime of being a patient taking hormones\u2019.  True, but there\u2019s an intentional framing here \u2013 that a transgender person taking hormones is a \u2018patient\u2019, implying that we are treating a medical condition.  Firstly though, plenty of medical conditions like diabetes require lifetime medication.  That\u2019s just what some people unfortunately have to deal with.  Secondly, so what?  There are plenty of things I have to do daily including eating and drinking that are necessary for my wellbeing.  That\u2019s just part of being alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Suffer vaginal atrophy\u2019.  True for some trans masculine and non-binary people taking testosterone, but this is relatively easy to treat through exercises and or topical estrogen creams.  Again, he is conflating costs<\/em> of transitioning that many trans people are more than willing to pay in exchange for the benefits with problems<\/em> that should, in his view, lead to our restricting access to care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Suffer the daily routines of tending for the parts of the body that have been surgically modified.\u2019  Again, factually inaccurate and revealing of the reality that he is not interested in actual engagement with the data.  If he\u2019s talking about transwomen, one-year post surgery m<\/a><\/em>ight<\/em> require a weekly routine of dilation for women who are not sexually active<\/a>.  Even if this were true, which it\u2019s not \u2013 again, we have to do a bunch of daily routines to take care of our body including cleaning it and providing it nutrition.  This is just part of the cost of being a person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve targeted the David Bell seminar because he has been relevant to my profession as a therapist recently due to having been invited to speak in New Zealand by the New Zealand Institute of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. However I want to make it clear that everything I\u2019m debunking here and the arguments I\u2019m making could just as easily be levelled at nearly any \u2018gender-critical\u2019 person, since they make the same arguments, rely on the same disproven studies and theories (like ROGD), and use the same tactics to try and shut down their opponents by claiming that they are just wanting to engage in \u2018thoughtful\u2019 debate, all while making outrageous claims that paint their opponents as lunatics without providing any evidence to back it up.  This is not debate, or thoughtful or reflective discussion.  This is a moral panic.  And we should not give space to these toxic and actively harmful viewpoints from people who are actively trying \u2013 and unfortunately in some cases succeeding \u2013 to deny care and rights to an already marginalised community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People like David Bell want to frame the conflict around trans rights as being one of \u2018exploration\u2019 vs \u2018affirmation\u2019, where they stand on the side of those who just want to have dialogue and allow thoughtful exploration, while trans activists and academics want to blindly affirm people\u2019s ideas about themselves without any curiosity or discussion.  This is a gross mischaracterisation of our perspectives, as what trans people and their allies really<\/em> want is exploration leading <\/em>to affirmation.  That is, that someone be supported to freely and openly explore their gender identity so that they can work out what feels right and resonates with them, and then<\/em> be affirmed in whatever fits them most authentically and genuinely.  On the other hand, as I hope I\u2019ve illustrated, gender-critical perspectives are not concerned with actual<\/em> exploration because actual<\/em> exploration would allow for the possibility of arriving at the conclusion that one truly is transgender.  Instead, they want the pretence <\/em>of exploration with the reality that the outcome is pre-determined \u2013 that a person cannot genuinely be transgender, and that claims of such are just representative of other underlying psychological or social issues.  This is not exploration, it is the exact kind of coercion that they claim to be against.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Or: Why we need to stop platforming disingenuous anti-trans speakers I wanted to write this essay as a primer for anyone who might up until now have only been witnessing the debate about trans rights from the outside. 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